Shitilifa (Shitilisa), Isak * ? † 1990, ? Baumann, p.214 Baptized: 14.09.1919. Confirmed: 20.10.1920. Mother language: Oshivambo. Other languages: Afrikaans. Worked as a kitchenworker in Windhoek before joining the Church. Completed Std. VI.1 Isaak Sitilisa ("Oumabo") Vedder remarks: "Hutgitwart...(??) und Diener von Direktor Kreft. Während dessen Europareise im Augustineum".Was admitted on the 14.03.1927 and finished on the 17.06.1927.2 5 teachers on a list of 32 (15%), of those who passed their examination at the end of the "third course (15.07.1929 - 17.06.1932), can later be traced as Evangelists in different congregations: 2.) Isaak Sitilisa was send to Tsumeb.3 Attended the 2 week long "Wiederholungskursus", led by Vedder, at the Augustineum in Okahandja, 05.01.-20.01.1936 with 39 other teachers from "Hereroland". He came from Tsumeb.4 Isaak walked from his home village to Tsumeb in the year which nobody could remember. "In die Ovambo-reservaat !Keis het die mense 'n klein skoolgebou opgerig en Isaak Sitilisa (sic!) is daarheen as onderwyser gestuur."5 Was employed as an evangelist in Tsumeb on Ascension Sunday 1947, the same Sunday on which August Rethemeier was installed as the missionary of the congregation.6 Mentioned in list AELCRNVIII2.11A1963-65 "Medewerkers van die Evangelies-Lutherse Kerk in SWA (Rynse Sendingkerk) Jan. 1963" as evangelist employed since 1947, Mentioned as evangelist who was present at the conference of evangelists in October 1971 in Okahandja,7 from Tsumeb. Was issued with a certification of exemption from pass law in the rank as an Evangelist of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in S.W.A. from the headquarter Tsumeb in November 1961. The Administration noticed however that Shitilifa was already issued an exemption in September 1954.8 01.-04.10.1962 2. Ordentliche Gesamtsynode der ELK in Windhoek. Eine neue Kirchenleitung wird gewählt: Pastor G. Tjombe, Pastor P. Gowaseb, Missionar Dittmer, S. Boois, A. Hipondoka, Präses Diehl, H. Lübke, G. Reeh, J. Beukes. (Immanuel 10.01.1963.) Teilnehmer (im Protokoll wird nicht unterschieden zwischen Evangelisten und Lehrern, hier nur die Evangelisten ausgewählt): I. Sitilisa [sic] (Tsumeb), M. Gertse (Otjiwarongo), G. Ngapurue (Outjo/Fransfontein), T. Richter (Outjo/Fransfontein), N. Hendrik (Outjo/Fransfontein), L. Nainda (Omaruru), Z. Awaseb (Usakos), K. Gonteb (Okombahe), F. Mativa (Otjimbingwe), Fl. Kariange (Okahandja), A. Nowaseb (Okahandja), F. Kandovazu (Windhoek-Herero/Ovambo), F. Lazarus (Windhoek-Herero/Ovambo), I. Tjlabanello (Gobabis), D. Skrywer (Gobabis), G. Alcock (Rehoboth-Baster), P. Adam (Rehoboth-Bergdamara), F. Gariseb (Mariental/Gibeon), P. Pieter (Mariental-Gibeon), A. Isaak (Keetmanshoop), I. Isaak (Berseba), H. Frederik (Bethany), E. Jager (Warmbad-Karasburg), L. Snewe (Lüderitzbucht-Nama/Kleurling), (AVEM RMG 2.669a:93+93r). It turned out that Shitilifas daughter had most of the information of her father. The reason was most probably that she was the favourite child of Shitilifa and remembered the stories her father told her when she was young. She recorded: Shitilifa was originally from Ombandja. During a famine in that area, they moved to Ombalantu. It was here in Ombalantu that the clan split up. The mother of Shitilifa was Namtenya and the father was Namutenya. They were both from Okolonkazu. Here Shitilifa grew up with his brother Anton and his sister Ndasilohenda ("I have been forgiven"). Shitilifas uncle, with the name Mwanjangapo, was a chief in Ombalantu and came to Okolonkazu to catch slaves. It was here that he found the child Ndasilohenda and her mother, but the mother was already dead. [This is how it was recorded]. Isak ran away [sic] - seemingly because this was the only way to also be caught as a slave ?? - through Tsumeb to Windhoek. In the vicinity of Windhoek he worked on a farm that belonged to a German who was a member of the Lutheran church ("[...] hy het aan die Evangeliese Kerk behoort".) This German farmer taught him and later send him to the Augustineum. (Isak Shitilifa's participation in any course at the Augustineum could not be traced). After his training at the Augustineum he worked in Usakos. In Usakos he met an Ovambo woman which he wished to marry, but the RMS missionary said that the woman is not good for Shitilifa, so he abandoned the plan of a marriage. In Usakos he worked together with a man by the name of "Ou Luanda" [sic]. From Usakos he was transferred to Tsumeb. From here he went to Ovamboland to get himself a woman. He found one in Onesi which he married and brought with him to Tsumeb. The woman was his own nice ("niggie"). Both families - his own and the family of the woman were involved in the decision - an arranged marriage. Her family name was Itenge. Her mother was Sarah Itenge, the fathers name was not remembered. Back in Tsumeb the following children were born from this marriage: Ericson, Tegelela (who grew up in Ovamboland). According to Claudia Shitilifa, Tegelela was the child of a white man for whom Itenge worked in the household. His name was Conradi and he registered Tegelela as a "Kleurling". Shitilifa was so close with his daughter Claudia ("ou mama") that he took her on his visits in the congregation, even to the jail of Tsumeb. They lived in a house in the old location and had a cattle kraal next to the house. Claudia attended the Opawa-Skool (a Government school) in Tsumeb. Shitilifa brought her daughter to school every morning and also collected her again after school. Claudia attended school up to Std. 6. Although Claudia never joined her father on the trips to the farms, she accompanied him on countless visits in the location in Tsumeb, e.g. when he celebrated Holy Communion with old people in their huts because they could no longer attend the services. In 1972 Shitilifa retired. In 1975 he went to Onesi to erect a grave stone on the grave of his wife. It is here that he became sick and stayed there for about two years. In 1976 the family collected Shitilifa back to Tsumeb. Other children: Helena (born 1955), Olivia and Tobias. The children visited Ovamboland frequently. Isak Shitilifa spoke Herero, Afrikaans and German. With missionary Heuer he spoke German. When Helena married her future husband Nuyoma in 1978, it was only Claudia who remained with her father in the household. Children of Claudia Shitilifa: David Thomas (born 1977) Ainrj [sic] (male) Ivon Precella In June 1990 Claudia brought her father to Tegelela. Tegelela brought her father to Onesi in September 1990. Claudia Shitilifa moved to Walvisbaai in 1996.9 According to Selma Itana (Selma was born on 14.2.1953 in Okwaluzi, she is a Kwambi. She attended Ondukuta Primary School and came to Tsumeb in 1979. When she came to Tsumeb, Isak Shitilifa was not working any more and he was already lame/"verlam". At that time Claudia was still in Tsumeb. At that time Tegelela was married for a long time already and had moved to Ovamboland. It was only she, Helena and ou mama who stayed in the house of Shitilifa), Shitilifa came from the Ukolonkazi region (ethnic) and from the village Onesi. Every Morning at sunrise he would read from the Bible, pray and sing. He sang the songs in Oshiwambo. "Is net mooi ou man." [No idea what this sentence means in my notes]. Selma Itana could not remember the date of his death. He died during a visit to Onesi, where he was also buried. Children according to Selma [and dates from church book] Sara Tegelela born 02.02.1956 Erickson Shihuueni born 03.03.1950 in Tsumeb, died 27.06.1979 in Keetmanshoop Adopted child: Helena Nuyoma. She later was a teacher in Swakopmund. In 2004 in Swakopmund. Married to Samuel Nayoma (Governor of region where Swakop belongs to). Isak Shitilifa wife died 24.12.1974.10 According to Tegelela the pastors in Tsumeb under which Shitilifa worked were: Heuer, Johanes Hishono, Josef Shetekela, Malakia Hawanga, Metusalem Shilongo.11 He was in Ovamboland for 18 month from 1989 to July 1990, before he died. He was buried next to his wife in Ovamboland.12 Married: Ndaziluhenda Shitilifa (Ndaziluhenda means "if you feel pity for me"??)13 Born 1921 [no place mentioned]. Baptised by Krey on 17.11.1939. Confirmed on 22.12.1940. Married on the 15.11.1944. Died on the 29.12.1947 and was buried 30.12.1947.14 Married to Ndasilushenda on 15.11.1944, she was born in 1921 in Uukolondadi.15 Children: * Tegelela (born 02.07.1956 in Tsumeb). She moved to Onihandi - near Oniipa - in 1976. [Interview on 25.7.2004 in her house near the new railway-line and the bridge which was build in 2003 for the road from Ondangwa to Oniipa/Onanjonkwe]. She was married to Markus ya Paulus Ndeutapo (Ndonga speaking) on 02.06.1974 in Tsumeb by Methusalem Shilongo. Paulus lived in Tsumeb when they met. The father of Paulus was a Nkumbi and the mother Ndonga, they both lived in Ombalantu. Markus ya Paulus was later - in the end of the 1970tees - arrested by Koevoet and never appeared again. Tegelela had the following children: Joël (32 years), Leonard (29 years) [In my notes it looks like as if Leonard was the only son of Tegelela and Paulus, but it is not clear], Paulus (27 years), Ndjalu (15 years), Penny (10 years). * Silvie16 * Neru (female)Was the child of the sister of the wife of Shitilifa.17 * Afeu Adopted child of the family of Shitilifa.18 * Ericson19 [according to the ELCRN cardsystem Erikson was born on the 16.03.1950, which means before Tegelela] (born (According to his daughter Tegelela Paulus - in the interview of 25.07.2004 - his son Erickson worked at the TCL office and later at Diesel Electric in Tsumeb. He was very clever but he drank a lot of alcohol. During a fight he was stabbed with a knife and died. He is buried in Tsumeb.)20 * Claudia Hasheni "Ou mama" (born 11.05.1961)21 Claudia22 According to Tegelela Paulus, evangelist Shitilifa also wanted his daughter Claudia to follow in his footsteps and work for the church. Erickson born 1950 Selma born 1953 Sara Tegelela born 1956 Lelena Lilvie Claudia ("ou mama") born 1961 Education: Other family members connected to RMG: Mission Stations: Tsumeb 193223 History with the RMG: Further reading: "[...] Isak was one of the few men in Ohoromende who did not work for the mine; after a couple of contracts in his youth, he had become so deeply involved with the Rhenisch Mission that he now earned his living as an evangelist, spreading the word of God to Africans in and around Tsumeb. He lived what he preached: hard work, frugality and complete obedience to the Lord. Between four in the morning when he brought in the daily wheelbarrow-load of firewood from the bush and bedtime he hardly sat down. He expected the same hard work from his family. 'Why are you sitting there idle?' he would ask. 'Only those who work deserve to eat.' Not that any of us were trying to shirk; with Isak's miserable salary, we all had to do our best to make ends meet. I would get up at five to chop the wood that Isak had brought in, then go over to the kraal, which he shared with three other families, to milk the cows and let them out. Neru, who was my age, helped my aunt in the kitchen and kept our house and yard swept clean. The younger children, Afeu and Ericson, fed the chickens and carried in wood. Our house was Spartan. Only the adults sat on chairs and the only decorations on the walls were few framed quotes from the Bible. 'Children, I'm a simple person,' Isak would tell us, pulling at his sleeveless undershirt. 'Don't give me my tea in one of these modern mugs; give it to me in a can.' And he held up the old jam can with the metal handle which he had made himself. 'You may use a cup, Johnny, but me, I like it simple.' With that he would puff at his old pipe - his only luxury - with satisfaction. Isak was highly respected in Tsumeb. His Sunday services filled the local church, and when he held catechism sessions in the compound yard, scores of workers gathered to hear him speak. With his deep, resonant voice and his white hair, Isak was a figure of authority to young and old alike. It seemed natural to me that people should look up to their church leaders. For as long as I could remember, the Rhenisch Mission preachers had been the ultimate authority to our family. Next to the family and the tribe, the church commanded our loyalty almost beyond question, and no one could gain recognition in the community without being a proven member of the faithful. During my school holidays I often accompanied Isak on his trips to visit farm workers. Our donkey cart was loaded with Bibles and prayer books, which we sold to those of the workers who had money. My job was to give change, write down the names of those whom Isak had baptized and read the verses Isak chose for each sermon. On some farms the men had not seen any African children since they had started their contract - they could never leave the farm - and my presence sparked memories of home and their own families. As I read from the Bible, their eyes would be fixed on me as if I were their own son, mastering the magic of something they never knew. After the service they praised Isak for raising me in this way and brought us the best food they could find. Our visit was like a break in the clouds; they would plead with us to stay longer and to return as soon as we could. Of course, we had to get the farmer's permission before we could speak to his workers. Some were glad to let a preacher see their men; some did not care one way or the other; others were virulently antagonistic. I remember one trip in 1954, a year in which the newspapers were filled with gruesome stories about the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya. Isak and I had travelled the whole day to reach a big farm near Otavi. Our water had run out hours before; my throat was dry and coarse with dust when we finally reached the gate. A trough of clear water sparkled in the late afternoon sun. I jumped off the cart and started to lead the donkey towards the water. 'Wait!' Isak said. 'First we'll get permission.' When we pulled up in front of the farmhouse, the owner came out on to the porch. He held a shotgun in his hands. 'What do you want, kaffirs?' he yelled. 'Who said you could come here?' Isak said nothing. For a long time we sat silently on the cart while the Boer glared at us. The farmer spoke again. 'I don't want any strange kaffirs on my property. Get going!' He gestured with his gun towards the gate. When he was sure the man had finished, Isak finally spoke. 'I have come to preach the word of God. I am a evangelist of the Rhenisch Mission.' He held out his letter of credentials. 'If you are a Christian yourself, you will allow the word of God to be spread among your workers.' 'Bliksems donner, you black bastard, you think I'am as black as you?' the boer spluttered. 'Man, I'm not black at all.' 'I know that,' Isak said quietly, 'but God's love does not differentiate. Sir, I only want to talk to your workers; the men are hungry for God's word and it is my duty to give them His blessings.' The farmer pointed the gun straight at my uncle. 'Get out!' Isak took the reins out of my hands and turned the donkey around. 'Can we please have some water from your trough?' he asked, in the same quiet voice. 'My boy is thirsty.' 'Look, you, I don't talk to kaffirs that long. Just get out that gate - now!' The famer was coming down the steps. Walking behind us down the driveway, he kept the gun pointed at us until we reached a turn in the main road and were out of sight. We rattled on in silence, the donkey pulling listlessly. I was waiting for Isak to say something, but the old man just sat as he always did, chewing on the stem of his pipe with slow, thoughtful motions of his jaw. The urge to break the silence finally became too strong for me. 'Was that man a Christian?' I asked. The response was some time in coming. Isak seemed to be contemplating the setting sun, his eyes nearly closed under the bushy brows. 'When a white man points his gun at you like that,' he said finally, without looking my way, 'you can be sure he's a Christian.' Only when I was older did I understand what my uncle had meant.24 Relating to Erickson, as told by Zhu Mbako (born 1950 on the church farm in Gaub, later he and his mother moved to Tsumeb, where his mother worked as "[...] a cleaner at the church, and in the priest's house, and for about three white people, doing the washing on various days.": "[...] I had a friend called Erikson [sic] Shitilifa, a nephew of John ya Otto, and when we were in Standard 5 there was a craze of wearing long trousers and having bikes. We had bikes, but we didn't have the money to buy long trousers. Then one day - it was one of the short school holidays - my friend got the idea, I don't know how, that the headmaster kept books in his office - school books, school texts, and so on - which were for sale to students, and he kept the money there too. How Erikson got hold of the keys, I don't know, but we got into the school and we took the money and a lot of the textbooks. Now the compound workers, the contracts workers who used to make trousers, and for a few rand, three I think, one of them made the trousers for us. And then we were the two boys with long trousers! Also at the Municipality - and I don't know how my friend came to know about this either - there was food for distribution to old people, which was kept in a big garage there. We broke in through a window and there was all this tinned food and stuff which we took. When the school reopened the headmaster went to the police. At that time we were in Standard 4, but the police reckoned that only the Standard 5s could have done this kind of job, so they rounded up all the Standard 5 boys and took them to the police station. But there was another guy, called Tuliki, who had seen us during the holiday with money and sweets and things, so when they were taken to the police station and beaten up and questioned he said, 'No, no, wait; I saw Zhu and Erikson the other day in town, and they had a lot of sausages and sturr.' Now we realised that it was going to be problematic. So we took off into the bush to the place where our parents grazed their cattle; it was the berries season, so we stayed there, eating berries. But eventually we became hungry and thirsty and came back to get a drink at the watering place for the cattle, where we were recognised by someone who told the police. So then the police called us. In the end we decided to tell them that we were the ones who did it. Then we had to go back to our homes, because we were so clever we had also stolen all the books we ourselves would need up to Standard 6, and stocked them in our rooms. So we had to carry all the books to the police station. The police then decided that because we were very young they would just give some corporal punishment - I think it was eight strokes, or something like that - and then let us go. But we still had the problem of the principal. He was very, very angry with us. One day Erikson and I were late for school. The principal was standing near the gate. He asked why we were late and told us to go to his office. He really hated us now, and we were sure he was going to beat us; he started rolling up his sleeves and threatening us, saying, 'Ja, you boys, you think you are big people here in my school!' We were so frightened we decided to jump through the windo and run away into the bush. For two days we didn't go to school, so the teachers wetn to Erikson's father, who was a pastor, and reported that we weren't attending school. The next morning he went with both of us to the school and talked for a long time with the teacher. In the end he told us 'Okay, you can go to your classes,' and nothing else happened. We got into another scrape in about 1965, [...]. In Standard 5 there was another friend of ours called Oupapa Mapindi. His father was in the Special Branch. Now there was a rich, rich Jew in Tsumeb, called Bosman, I think, and another of our friends used to work in his garden. He had two Volkswagen Beetles, one for him and one for his wife, which our friend also had to clean. Now Oupapa, the son of the Special Branch policeman, knew how to drive. One night - it was a Saturday - we were sitting in the room of one of our friends, drinking tombo and smoking, when Oupapa turned up and said, 'Oh, my friends, man, my dad bought me a car!' We said, 'Oh, gosh! Where is it?' 'It's just round here!' He had parked behind his house at the end of the road. We said 'Hey, it's a nice car!' and then we thought, 'What are we going to do?' So we decided we would go to Grootfontein that evening. We got into the car (we were five, all aged about 15); we took the plastic containers with our tombo and he drove us to Grootfontein. [...] out of Tsumeb we saw a torch being waved. In fact, it was indicating that we should pass. But when we came near, we realised it was a policeman. Then the guy who was driving panicked. He just stopped the car and jumped out and ran! We followed, and ran through the bush. We ran, and it was night. I didn't go very far; I hid behind a tree. Apparently what had happened was there was a police car which had overturned. But by the time Erikson got out of the car the policeman had come up to it and he was taken. I decided to walk along the road back to Tsumeb, walking and walking. One of the others, called Tangwe, caught up with me, and eventually we came to a farm. There we went to the worker's quarters and told them our dad's car had broken down, and that they had gone to look for help, and we were afraid to stay in the car. They said we could stay the night there, and then we heard Oupapa coming too. He was covered with blood from running into the barbed wire that ran along the edge of the road. When I got home my mum just said, 'Straight to the police!' I went to my friend's house; his mum had him going to the police too. When we got there Erikson was there already, and the policemen looked at us and said, 'Gosh, hierdie klein kaffertjies wat die kar gesteel he!' ('these small kaffirs who stole the car!'). Erikson told us he had told them everything, but the guy who stole the car, Oupapa, they couldn't find; so they said they would keep us in prison until they did. I think we stayed there for four days, polishing the policemen's shoes, until in the end they found Oupapa. He was brought to the prison, and he was shouting, and he was a very difficult person. His dad came there, and started beating him up, and Oupapa was saying, 'I'm just going to steal another one, and then I'm going to disappear in Kaokoveld' - apparently they were from Kaokoland. The parents and the school principal decided we should be given a hiding, a proper hiding; the teacher was explaining that we were the most difficult children in his school. This was because at one point also, Erikson had found out that teachers had licences or something to buy alcohol, which black people were not allowed to buy - they could get one or two bottles, I think - and so we used to write out these slips and go and get bottles ourselves, and it was discovered. The principal started telling the police and our parents all this, so they decided to give us a hiding, on our naked buttocks. We were beaten, and then the teacher decided to make us follow him through the centre of town, so that people could see us, these criminals - until we reached the school. The he said, 'All right, you can go home now.'25 1 AELCRN Cardsystem of the co-workers, n.N. 2 AELCRN V 6.1:19. 3 AELCRN V 6.1:24. 4 AELCRN V 6.1:35+36. 5 Van Sending tot Kerk. Herausgeber ELK in SWA. 125 Jaar Rynse Sendingarbeid in Suidwes-Afrika. Redaksie: Dr. J. Baumann, Karibib Karibib, 1967. p. 214, row 5 left collumn. 6 Van Sending tot Kerk. Herausgeber ELK in SWA. 125 Jaar Rynse Sendingarbeid in Suidwes-Afrika. Redaksie: Dr. J. Baumann, Karibib Karibib, 1967. p. 214, row 27ff right collumn. 7 Evangeliste-Konferensies 1968, 1971, 1973. Notule p. 5. 8 NAN BAC 25. 9 Shitilifa. 10 Itana. 11 Paulus. 12 Paulus. 13 Paulus. 14 Doopregister van die gemeente Tsumeb. 15 AELCRN Cardsystem of the co-workers, n.N. 16 Shitilifa. 17 Shitilifa. 18 Shitilifa. 19 Battlefront Namibia. An Autobiography. John Ya-Otto with Ole Gjerstad and Michael Mercer. Heineman. London, 1982. p. 13 16. 20 Paulus. 21 Itana. 22 Interviewed on 5.8.2004 in Walvisbaai. 23 AELCRN Cardsystem of the co-workers, n.N. 24 Battlefront Namibia. An Autobiography. John Ya-Otto with Ole Gjerstad and Michael Mercer. Heineman. London, 1982. p. 15-18. 25 Leys 2005:13-16. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 3/3 28.04.2021 3:13 C:\LOCG\Privat\EvangelistenProjekt\Shitilifa Isak.doc